Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) is a colorless gas under normal conditions and has a boiling point of about minus (-)129.degree. C. (degrees centigrade), and a melting point of about minus (-)208.degree. C. (degrees centigrade). Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) is an oxidizer that is thermodynamically stable at elevated temperatures. At temperatures up to about 350.degree. C. (degrees centigrade), its reactivity is comparable to oxygen. At higher temperatures, its reactivity is similar to fluorine owing to appreciable dissociation into NF.sub.2.sup.+ and F.sup.-. The thermal dissociation of nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) has been found to peak in the temperature range of 800.degree. C. to 1200.degree. C. (degrees centigrade). Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) acts primarily upon the elements as a fluorinating agent, but not a very active one at lower temperatures. At elevated temperatures, NF.sub.3 pyrolysis with many elements to produce dinitrogen tetrafluoride (N.sub.2 F.sub.4) and the corresponding fluoride. The pyrolysis of nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) over copper turnings produces dinitrogen tetrafluoride (N.sub.2 F.sub.4) in a 62-71% yield at 375.degree. C. (degrees centigrade). Pyrolysis over carbon is more favorable. Hydrogen reacts with nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) with the rapid liberation of large amounts of heat and is the basis for the use of nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) in high-energy chemical lasers. The flammability range for nitrogen trifluoride and hydrogen (NF.sub.3 /H.sub.2) mixture is 9.4-95 mole % of NF.sub.3. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) reacts with organic compounds, but generally an elevated temperature is required to initiate the reaction. Under these conditions, the reaction will often proceed explosively and great care must be exercised when exposing nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) to organic compounds. Therefore, nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) has found little use as a fluorinating agent for organic compounds.
Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) has been used successfully in large quantities as a fluorine source for high energy chemical lasers. It is preferred over fluorine because of its comparative ease of handling at ambient conditions. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) has been used as a source of fluorine in the preparation of fluoro-olefins, and as an oxidizer for high energy level. Recently, an increasing amount of nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) is being used in the semiconductor industry as a cleaning agent and as a dry etchant, showing significantly higher etching rates and selectivities when compared to carbon tetrafluoride (CF.sub.4) and mixtures of carbon tetrafluoride (CF.sub.4) and oxygen (O.sub.2). It is used to clean semiconductor micro chips and silicon wafers. Minor amounts of nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) are used as a chemical intermediate in the production of tetrafluorohydrazine (N.sub.2 F.sub.4) and a series of perfluoroammonium salts. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) was also used as an oxidizer in rocketry in the early 1960's, but this application was not commercialized.
There remains a need for an efficient manufacturing apparatus for the continuous production and generation of nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) while producing no by-products.